Mimiko rejoins LP, urges youths to be politically active

A former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, on Thursday, formally defected to his former party, the Labour Party at his hometown, Ondo, Ondo State.

The former governor defected to the LP together with thousands of his supporters and aides across the 18 local government areas of the state, all putting on different attire with orange colour.

Addressing the crowd at the Oba Adesanoye Civil Centre, Ondo town, Mimiko said he was back in the LP for good, saying his decision to leave the party for the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party in 2014 was not because he had a disagreement with the leadership of the LP but because the PDP leadership then believed in the restructuring of the country.

He said, “I have taken this decision out of the conviction on the need to catalyse a greater focus on the ideological content of the Nigerian political firmament.

“Recall that I was of the LP and had won my two governorship elections on the platform of the Party prior my decision to move over to the PDP in 2014. The implication of this is that there was practically no personal gain in focus for us in moving over to the PDP as of that date.

“The decision was also not borne out of any disagreement with the LP, either ideologically or operationally. It was simply a decision that we needed to take in the higher interest of our country. We particularly had in focus the agenda of restructuring, which frontier the then President had extended a bit by convoking the National Conference.

“We thus felt compelled to work with his party, hoping that his victory in the 2015 election, would translate the vision of restructuring the Nigerian federation into reality.”

He expressed assurance that many chieftains from the All Progressives Congress and the PDP and some other political parties in the state would soon join the LP in the nearest future.

Declaring his support for the young people to rule the country, Mimiko admonished the youth to be actively participating in politics, saying there was a need for them to have their Permanent Voter Cards to enable them to cast their votes during the forthcoming general elections in 2019.

The National Chairman of the LP, Mr. Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, while welcoming the defector, described Mimiko as a good politician who had touched the lives of the people of the state when he was the governor.

“In him, we have an example of what power could be used to achieve on the side of the people. Therefore, our hope and confidence are rekindled by his return to the party today to be part of the renaissance of the party and Nigeria.”

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